Champion News

CHAMPION—December 26, 2011

           The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is a special time in Champion.  The stresses and pressures of having to have been good are all over; sweet connections with family and dear friends have been reconnected; a few days of wonderful left-overs ease the cooking burden and a little time can be alloted to reflection over the past year and visions for the one ahead.  The Champion Parade Committee (CPC) has been busy at work and Champions are unanimous in their Gratitude for such grand displays.  They are grateful that Monday’s freezing drizzel did not come on the Christmas Eve Parade and grateful that it is likely to be long gone before the next parade.  Frequently enough the New Year’s Day Parade has a little wobbly start on account of the General having celebrated his birthday the night before.  A little freezing drizzel goes a long way so Champions feel very blessed and will just hope that the General stays dry and is able to deport himself better this year.  Champions are grateful for even small blessings.

          “Why do we need to be shooting Brother Crow?”  inquired one Champion when she heard about a hunter in the Mark Twain National Forrest having been shot in the leg by an area resident.  “Crows are very smart, you know, and they live in large extended families.  Aunts and Uncles take care of nieces and nephews.  Grandparents and great grandparents are vigilant for the young.  They may occupy the same home territory for many generations.”  Concern for the condition of the wounded hunter and the disposition of the resident who did the shooting notwithstanding, she asks, “Must we shoot crows?” Answer this question or pose one at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367 Norwood, MO 65717 or Champion at getgoin.net..

          “Why is water blue?”  The answer has to do with nuclear motions in the molecules as red photons excite vibration. “To our knowledge the intrinsic blueness of water is the only example from nature in which color originates from vibrational transitions,” says an expert from Dartmouth College.  Anyway it is thought that water exposed to sunlight through blue glass takes on certain qualities and that those qualities can be utilized by people who drink the water.  Water that has spent three days in the sunlight in a blue bottle is said to have some excellent benefit to the health of the body and the mind and the spirit.  It could not hurt.  Some of the “Old Biddies” bridge club are excited about the idea and are determined to try it out.  Some will write “Love and Gratitude” on their bottles to see what happens.  Expect a full report sometime after the fourth thursday in January.  The holdiday game at the Mansfield Community Center on the fourth thursday of December was a delight. The cards ran hot and cold among the three tables to a river of laughter and good cheer.  Sensable bridge players enjoyed a salad luncheon topped off with chocolate salad and cheesecake salad. 

          Young Jacob Coon shares his birthday with Mrs. Esther Howard on January 3^rd. Esther Howard will be home in Marshfield partying down with her family and friends.  “I wish you all the joy that you could wish!”  That is how Shakespeare said “Happy birthday!”  Champions echo the thought.   They may be separated in age by seventy or eighty years, but Esther and Jacob each have a sparkle in their eyes and a certain attittude that smacks of fun and surprise, a mischevious quality that is endearing.  Jacob will celebrate his special day by going back to school.  The “Make and Take” event drew a big crowd on Tuesday the 20^th.  The cafeteria at the school was burgeoning with clever crafters, Moms and Dads and grandparents. They left with handsfull (handfulls) of pretty homemeade ornaments and excited optmism for Christmas. The Skyline R-2 School Foundation also had a presence there.  President Patricia Blasius and school board member, Tim Scrivner, were distributing information about how the foundation works and talking with excited parents about a fishing tournament to benefit the foundation in the spring.  It all goes to benefit this wonderful little school and its one hundred young people—Jacob and 99 of his friends.  Champion!

          It is a most pleasant, if rare, event when that Tennessee contingent of Champions are in town at the same time as Uncle and Great Uncle Harley.  Closeness has not all that much to do with geography, but it is a delight when paths cross.  Barbara stayed home to hold down the fort in Elmwood while Harley and friends sit around the stove in the conference room of the Historic Recreation of the Original Emporium located on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion.  They enjoy a cup of Joe and settle the problems of the outside world.  One could say, “Oh! To be a fly on that wall!” but the weather is too cold for flies and the building is too well constructed, appointed and maintained to accommodate such.  A person would just have to go there and hope that his very presence does not too much change the nature of the conversation.  When one particular Champion enters, the place falls in to a stone cold silence.  “Not for publication!” they say or, “News flash!”  For example, “a little bird” informs Champions that their mail carrier is Karen Ross, not Karen Goss, not Karen Doss.  It is Champion’s good fortune that dear Ms. Ross is willing to crisscross the chaos of Route Two delivering treasures, necessities and dross with never a delay and never a loss.  She may well have noticed moss in place of holiday appreciation in some mailboxes but in Champion hearts she shines with a high gloss.  Thank you, Ms. Ross.  Karen is beginning to stuff mailboxes with seed catalogues again.  Early birds will be starting seeds soon.  Linda and Charlene have the Plant Place and Gift Corner closed for January, but they are there working and always are willing to answer questions and to be of whatever help they can be to local gardeners.  Almanacs will be hitting the streets soon and the anticipation and excitement of gardening will begin again.  Champion!

          Goldie’s house is gone again.  Just up the hill from the confluence of Fox Creek with Clever Creek is a little home site that is once again just a site.  Long years ago it was the home of Goldie Dooms.  She had been a Lambert and was born and raised in Champion.  She passed away a long time ago and a family bought the place and added on to her little house.  That house burned and the people moved away.  Another house was built and then as a part of difficult circumstances became vacant.  In these parts it has not been unusual for a vacant house to burn.  This one was burned purposely on the orders from the bank that now owns it.  The little house had been open to animals and vandals for some time and had become a blight on the property.  Now just the little well house sits on the property.  It has been cleaned of all debris and is indeed a very attractive site again now in an amazingly beautiful part of the world.  Champion!

          Sherry Bennett, upright bass player from Ava, posted some great pictures of the weekly Thursday Night Vanzant Community Center Jam on the internet.  Esther Wrinkles says that it is quite a nice thing.  It is a pot luck dinner and people arrive planning to eat about six and then the music starts.  She said that there were about fifty-six people there last time and it looks like it is going to be a regular thing.  Esther is a vital part of the community (though rumor has it that she could use a new crock pot). She has made arrangements for the musical entertainment for the Skyline VFD Chili Supper to be held March 3, 2012.  The quilt that she hand pieced will soon be on display at Henson’s Gas and Grocery.  Her quilts have brought in a lot of money for the fire department over the years.  This one is a beauty.  Get a good look at it on your next trip to downtown Champion.  “We’ll sing of the old and we’ll sing of the new” in downtown Champion where hearts are light from Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—December 26, 2011

           The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is a special time in Champion.  The stresses and pressures of having to have been good are all over; sweet connections with family and dear friends have been reconnected; a few days of wonderful left-overs ease the cooking burden and a little time can be alloted to reflection over the past year and visions for the one ahead.  The Champion Parade Committee (CPC) has been busy at work and Champions are unanimous in their Gratitude for such grand displays.  They are grateful that Monday’s freezing drizzel did not come on the Christmas Eve Parade and grateful that it is likely to be long gone before the next parade.  Frequently enough the New Year’s Day Parade has a little wobbly start on account of the General having celebrated his birthday the night before.  A little freezing drizzel goes a long way so Champions feel very blessed and will just hope that the General stays dry and is able to deport himself better this year.  Champions are grateful for even small blessings.

          “Why do we need to be shooting Brother Crow?”  inquired one Champion when she heard about a hunter in the Mark Twain National Forrest having been shot in the leg by an area resident.  “Crows are very smart, you know, and they live in large extended families.  Aunts and Uncles take care of nieces and nephews.  Grandparents and great grandparents are vigilant for the young.  They may occupy the same home territory for many generations.”  Concern for the condition of the wounded hunter and the disposition of the resident who did the shooting notwithstanding, she asks, “Must we shoot crows?” Answer this question or pose one at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367 Norwood, MO 65717 or Champion at getgoin.net.

          “Why is water blue?”  The answer has to do with nuclear motions in the molecules as red photons excite vibration. “To our knowledge the intrinsic blueness of water is the only example from nature in which color originates from vibrational transitions,” says an expert from Dartmouth College.  Anyway it is thought that water exposed to sunlight through blue glass takes on certain qualities and that those qualities can be utilized by people who drink the water.  Water that has spent three days in the sunlight in a blue bottle is said to have some excellent benefit to the health of the body and the mind and the spirit.  It could not hurt.  Some of the “Old Biddies” bridge club are excited about the idea and are determined to try it out.  Some will write “Love and Gratitude” on their bottles to see what happens.  Expect a full report sometime after the fourth thursday in January.  The holdiday game at the Mansfield Community Center on the fourth thursday of December was a delight. The cards ran hot and cold among the three tables to a river of laughter and good cheer.  Sensable bridge players enjoyed a salad luncheon topped off with chocolate salad and cheesecake salad. 

          Young Jacob Coon shares his birthday with Mrs. Esther Howard on January 3^rd. Esther Howard will be home in Marshfield partying down with her family and friends.  “I wish you all the joy that you could wish!”  That is how Shakespeare said “Happy birthday!”  Champions echo the thought.   They may be separated in age by seventy or eighty years, but Esther and Jacob each have a sparkle in their eyes and a certain attittude that smacks of fun and surprise, a mischevious quality that is endearing.  Jacob will celebrate his special day by going back to school.  The “Make and Take” event drew a big crowd on Tuesday the 20^th.  The cafeteria at the school was burgeoning with clever crafters, Moms and Dads and grandparents. They left with handsfull (handfulls) of pretty homemeade ornaments and excited optmism for Christmas. The Skyline R-2 School Foundation also had a presence there.  President Patricia Blasius and school board member, Tim Scrivner, were distributing information about how the foundation works and talking with excited parents about a fishing tournament to benefit the foundation in the spring.  It all goes to benefit this wonderful little school and its one hundred young people—Jacob and 99 of his friends.  Champion!

          It is a most pleasant, if rare, event when that Tennessee contingent of Champions are in town at the same time as Uncle and Great Uncle Harley.  Closeness has not all that much to do with geography, but it is a delight when paths cross.  Barbara stayed home to hold down the fort in Elmwood while Harley and friends sit around the stove in the conference room of the Historic Recreation of the Original Emporium located on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion.  They enjoy a cup of Joe and settle the problems of the outside world.  One could say, “Oh! To be a fly on that wall!” but the weather is too cold for flies and the building is too well constructed, appointed and maintained to accommodate such.  A person would just have to go there and hope that his very presence does not too much change the nature of the conversation.  When one particular Champion enters, the place falls in to a stone cold silence.  “Not for publication!” they say or, “News flash!”  For example, “a little bird” informs Champions that their mail carrier is Karen Ross, not Karen Goss, not Karen Doss.  It is Champion’s good fortune that dear Ms. Ross is willing to crisscross the chaos of Route Two delivering treasures, necessities and dross with never a delay and never a loss.  She may well have noticed moss in place of holiday appreciation in some mailboxes but in Champion hearts she shines with a high gloss.  Thank you, Ms. Ross.  Karen is beginning to stuff mailboxes with seed catalogues again.  Early birds will be starting seeds soon.  Linda and Charlene have the Plant Place and Gift Corner closed for January, but they are there working and always are willing to answer questions and to be of whatever help they can be to local gardeners.  Almanacs will be hitting the streets soon and the anticipation and excitement of gardening will begin again.  Champion!

          Goldie’s house is gone again.  Just up the hill from the confluence of Fox Creek with Clever Creek is a little home site that is once again just a site.  Long years ago it was the home of Goldie Dooms.  She had been a Lambert and was born and raised in Champion.  She passed away a long time ago and a family bought the place and added on to her little house.  That house burned and the people moved away.  Another house was built and then as a part of difficult circumstances became vacant.  In these parts it has not been unusual for a vacant house to burn.  This one was burned purposely on the orders from the bank that now owns it.  The little house had been open to animals and vandals for some time and had become a blight on the property.  Now just the little well house sits on the property.  It has been cleaned of all debris and is indeed a very attractive site again now in an amazingly beautiful part of the world.  Champion!

          Sherry Bennett, upright bass player from Ava, posted some great pictures of the weekly Thursday Night Vanzant Community Center Jam on the internet.  Esther Wrinkles says that it is quite a nice thing.  It is a pot luck dinner and people arrive planning to eat about six and then the music starts.  She said that there were about fifty-six people there last time and it looks like it is going to be a regular thing.  Esther is a vital part of the community (though rumor has it that she could use a new crock pot). She has made arrangements for the musical entertainment for the Skyline VFD Chili Supper to be held March 3, 2012.  The quilt that she hand pieced will soon be on display at Henson’s Gas and Grocery.  Her quilts have brought in a lot of money for the fire department over the years.  This one is a beauty.  Get a good look at it on your next trip to downtown Champion.  “We’ll sing of the old and we’ll sing of the new” in downtown Champion where hearts are light from Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—December 19, 2011

          Having food and raiment, Champions are therewith content.  They do good, are rich in good works, ready to distribute and willing to communicate.  The pre-Christmas condition in Champion is but little changed from the rest of the year.  Festive lights and lighter than average hearts make Champion the ideal holiday destination.  Ho Ho Ho or www.championnews.us for a look on the Bright Side!

          Ethel McCallie writes, “You can’t imagine how much I wish I were one of you [Champions].  Your area is one of the most beautiful places in good old Douglas County, Missouri, ‘The Land That I Love,’ home of the good, humble, nice and free.”  Champions enjoy Ethel’s letters and will be most pleased any time their sweet Okie friend will be able to come and sit a spell.  Alice (Proctor) McClure writes from Cincinnati, Iowa and says. “Keep up good work!  Thank you for doing my family vacation last August.  We all enjoyed our trip to Missouri—Champion that is.”  Word is her sweet sister-in-law, Ruby Proctor, is well and enjoying the holiday season. One of Ruby’s boys was in town over the week end.  He lives in West Plains and said that it is the only town he has ever been in where a person could get a tick on the court house square.  He meant ‘big town’—Champion notwithstanding.   Suzie (Karen) Freeman (of Wesley and Suzie Freeman, McKinney, TX) says “Howdy from North Texas.  I read your Items and keep up with what is going on there.  Here is a song out of an 1800‘s songbook (Wait for it!) I got from my grandmother, Mamie Bryant.  My Mother-in-law is Helen Freeman who lives in Norwood.  I went to school with a lot of the people you mention in your Items.  Amy Collins was our next door neighbor in Mtn. Grove, when we lived across from the Shoe Factory.  Barbara Proctor Cooper and I graduated the same year.  My Father, Ben Long, was born in Norwood, August, 1896.  His brother, Jim, lived there all his life until he passed away.”  She goes on to wish all Champions the best of the holidays.  [It would interest some to know if Mr. Long was kin to Bill Long of Bill and Crenna Long of North Norwood.  Bill is from Haleyville, Alabama (named for the comet) and was a construction roughneck passing through Mansfield Town when he met Crenna.  Now he and Crenna have just had their 45^th wedding anniversary on December first.   They enjoyed a trip to Lebanon for dinner and shopping].   These letters from Ethel, Alice and Suzie all go to lift the spirit of the place.  Beautiful handwriting on paper with ink, wonderful sentiments, and the generosity of the time it takes to actually sit down and write make them rare and precious gifts.  Champions are Grateful! 

          Skyline School students presented a lovely program for parents and the community on Tuesday evening.  The program was dedicated in loving memory of Dane Solomon.  Billy Collins and Gavin Sartor each played piano solos, “The Chimes” and “Jingle Bells” respectively.   K. Collins then did a clog dance to the music of “Feliz Navidad.”  Preschoolers and kindergarteners joined up to sing “Up on the Housetop,” “Jingle Bells” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”  First, second and third grade sang “Little Drummer Boy,” “Rock n Roll Snowman” and “The Holly and the Ivy.”  Everyone else, fourth through the eighth grade sang “Carol of the Bells,” “Sing We Now of Christmas,” “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch” and “On a Starlit Night.”  It is easy to see from the choice of music just how the evening went.  Ask anyone who attended to get a smile and a good report.  More school programs are scheduled during the next few days.  There are being some good reports concerning community response to the Skyline R2 School Foundation.  It looks like people are starting to make some financial contributions that show support for this quality little country school.  Certain families and businesses operate on an annual budget, so the Foundation will do well to visit with good their neighbors at SeMaNo, White River Electric Cooperative and any number of other good neighbors after the first of the year.  The season for giving is perpetual in Champion!

          Those Tennessee boys will be in town for a few days.  Their Mother is an esteemed alumnus of the Skyline R2 School.  Maybe the boys will have a chance to be in the school before it closes for the holidays just to be awed by the basketball trophies and other accolades behind glass from their Mom’s school days.  They’ll be on the farm having fun, impressing the daylights out of their younger cousins and probably dodging the attention of their Great Uncle, The General, who, it may be noted has been laying conspicuously low of late.  Champions wonder, “What gives?”

          Friends talking behind Louise’s back say that she is making good progress in her recovery and is up to washing dishes with that good right hand.  Her Skyline Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary friends miss her.  At their recent meeting Louise’s responsibilities were delegate out among three people until she is ready to take them back.  It is no surprise that it would take three regular people to do what Louise has done in her spare time.  When Wilburn is down at the Store most days, as he is leaving he says, “Well, I think I’ll go see what’s going on at Louise’s house.”  Champions all hope that what is going on is good cheer. Champions all say, “Merry Christmas to Louise and Wilburn–from the Bright Side!”  Part of what went on at the Skyline Auxiliary meeting was the designation of March 3^rd for the Skyline VFD Auxiliary Chili Supper!  What Champion fun!  Esther will provide a quilt that will be on view immanently at Henson’s Gas and Grocery in Downtown Champion on the North Side of the Square.  The Christmas lights in Champion are absolutely “Dazzling!” and the Champion Christmas Eve Parade will be on schedule.  Farmers are early risers and so the Christmas Parade in Champion will find its terminus at the foot of the reviewing stand just at opening of business on the Saturday of Christmas Eve.  Anyone wishing to be a Champion needs but to appear any Saturday (or any day).  Come early.  Watch the activities of a place where people know how to live and how to be.  It will put you on the Bright Side!

          Champions prepare.  A flue fire is not a laughing matter and so any Champion who heats with wood should know how to best prevent flue fires and then in the unlikelihood of one occurring how to respond in the most safe and judicious manner.  Different heating configurations require different approaches.  Champions are encouraged to learn the particulars of their individual system.  It has recently been observed that water-soaked newspaper will go a long way toward quelling most chimney fires since it will suppress the flame and send steam up the chimney to inhibit combustion there.  This is layman information that should be taken with a grain of salt.  Contact a local firefighter and ask exactly how you should be prepared with your specific heating system.  Use some common sense, and pay attention to the advice of knowledgeable neighbors.  In a comedy (or painful potential tragedy) you could squirt cold water on a tin roof already frozen and then slide off of it yourself, tangle your foot in a ladder and hit the ground hard.   There are any number of ways that a flue fire could play out.  “Safe not Sorry!” is a Champion admonition. 

          Veterans and those currently serving in the US Military Service are all in the best thoughts of Champions at this time of the year.  Love and Gratitude go their way from Champions every day.  Excited Champion bridge players jumped the gun on the Old Biddies game day.  It will be Thursday the 22^nd.  The ladies will share salads for lunch and be ahead of the game to start a healthy new year.  Bridge players are cool. 

          The first verse to “The Model Church,” the song sent by Suzie Freeman, says “Well, Wife, I’ve found the model church and worshiped there today.  It made me think of good old times before my hair was gray.  The meeting house was finer built than they were years ago.  But then I found when I went in, it was not built for show.”  The song is written in 4/4 time and has seven great verses.  Request a copy at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or at Champion at getgoin.net.   “The Sunny Side of the Street” is waiting for you in beautiful downtown Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—December 12, 2011

          Saturday morning broke cold and clear–a sparkling twelve degrees with the moon setting in Champion about six thirty, already gone from view when the last lunar eclipse of 2011 took place.  Perhaps the summertime eclipse coming in 2014 will give Champions a better view.   Meanwhile early birds traveling to and from town that morning had the chance to view a spectacular full moon sliding down behind the western hills.  It was all very lovely and the early risers were out in numbers for coffee and conversation in the Recreation of the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square in downtown Champion.  The conversations covered a wide range of subjects, as usual, and a great deal of what was said is reported to have been entirely believable!  Any Saturday is a good one to enjoy the excitement of Champion. 

          People who believe in astrology think there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world. Horoscopes claim to predict aspects of an individual’s personality or life history based on the positions of the sun, moon, and planetary objects at the time of birth.  The whole thing can get pretty complicated.  Three people sharing the same birthday may share some characteristics but may also be very different.  Spike Jones was born on December 14, 1911, Judy T. Ing on December 14, in the early 1940’s, Shannon Alexander on December 14, in the mid 1970’s.  They all like (liked) music—Spike his own and everybody else’s; Judy—Patsy Cline and everything with human emotion; Shannon—an eclectic mix of Springfield’s own Tuck and Abney, The Chemical Brothers and Gorillaz.  They all like (liked) Johnny Cash.  All three of them are (were) great appreciators of the arts.  Spike Jones was a gifted musician with a great flair for comic parody.  He employed a lot of bells and slide whistles, horns of the “a-uuga” type, gargling and hiccupping in his recordings and kept people lighthearted and laughing during the dark days of World War II.  Judy was a multifaceted artist.  She worked as a graphic artist and photographer for the MD Anderson Cancer Research Lab in Smithville, Texas for twenty years.  She was a prolific writer and had just completed her expansive novel about a young woman making the westward migration starting out from St. Louis via wagon train.  Shannon is a photographer.  It is how he makes his living.  He thinks that life is too short and precious to spend any of it regretting not having recorded special moments properly. He has a pleasant easygoing approach that lets people feel comfortable and forget about the camera.  (www.417photoco.com). All three of these Sagittarians love (loved) children.  Spike had four children, Linda, Leslie Anne, Gina and Spike Jr.  Leslie Anne is the Director of Music and Film Scoring at the George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch and Spike Jr. Is a producer of live events and television broadcasts.  Judy had two children, Sarah Gale Ing, and Jesse David Ing.  Sarah earned a full university scholarship in math and studied math while being a drama major.  She died tragically young of primary pulmonary hypertension.   Jesse is in Hollywood, a movie writer, director, producer, working as Gale Force Entertainment (www.imdb.com/name/nm1876362/) with a current movie project called “Burning Away.” (It was always a concern that Jesse might have grownup to be an orthodontist.)  Shannon has two fine sons.  Ethan is a teenager who shares his father’s very good looks and probably does not want to read about himself in a newspaper.  Zack who is just now in grade school may be one of the most photographed children in the world.  He is beautiful and bears an amazing likeness to a Champion Grandmother who now goes by the code name Bozo. Sagittarians are described as able to juggle a variety of tasks and responsibilities.  They are good natured and friendly and are always supportive of the goals and ambitions of others.  They remain enthusiastic and full of optimism no matter what the circumstance.   What Champions!

          Mail carrier, Karen Goss, is a real Champion. She keeps Champions connected to the rest of the world, to family, friends, creditors, and the news regardless of the weather. She has recently received some new family pictures of her daughter and family up in North Dakota. She had them with her when she popped into Henson’s Grocery and Gas to deliver the mail.  No wonder she likes to show them off.  The pictures were made out on a broad grassy prairie with an old barn in some of the scenes.  The emptiness of the background and the big sky just brings focus to the sweet faces of the family.  They like to come down to visit in the spring of the year to help get the garden in. Granddaughter Toni is probably six years old now, grandson Gavin is nine or close to it and the baby, Noah, is about a year old. Time flies even in North Dakota!  Their last name is Owens and they are from Minot, where their Dad is stationed in the military. They had a nice visit for a couple of weeks last April and many good memories were made, also some very tasty plum jelly by mother, daughter and granddaughter which was shared out liberally in Champion.      

          Vivian Floyd was on the phone to Champion Sunday evening finding out about the Champion website.  It is at www.championnews.us.  She had company at her house in Rogersville and wanted to take them on a cyber-tour of her old home town.  While she was still on the phone she could already be heard laughing and talking about all the pictures of the Champion School Reunions and various other entries.  This is a busy time of the year.  Tuesday will find the Ladies Auxiliary of the Skyline VFD meeting at Henson’s Store in downtown Champion.  They will start the planning for the next big thing.  It is a pleasant time of the year to get together with friends.  Linda will be over in Mansfield on Thursday with the Old Biddies playing bridge.  Bridge is a welcome break for her as she operates a seasonal business that requires year round work.  Charlene has been busy with Christmas crafts there at the Gift Corner and substitute teaching.  In a hectic holiday season it is wonderful to have local family owned and operated business to take care of staples and gift giving needs.  Spike Jones had a big hit with “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth” in 1942.  About fifty years ago a little girl named Janette wrote to Santa.  “Dear Santa,” she said, For Christmas I would like a jigsaw puzzle and for everyone to be happy.”  She signed her name and then wrote a post script, “Happy Christmas and Happy New Year to all the dwarves and reindeer.”  Janette still has good wishes for ‘everyone’ and it is pleasant to know her.  Champions join her in expressing Love and Gratitude to all those who have it coming.  That seems like everyone.  Send your holiday wish list to Santa or to Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or to Champion at getgoin.net.  Come on down to the sunny side of the street—to Champion, looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—December 5, 2011

          Geese are headed south these days.  An interested Champion learned that waterfowl frequently prefer to fly at night since the air remains relatively stable with lighter winds and less dramatic pressure and temperature gradients.  In the daytime hawks and eagles use thermals, air currents caused by the warming earth, to ride aloft.  Ducks and geese prefer undisturbed air.  They might also like to avoid the hawks and eagles.  By flying in the v-formation the whole flock has a much greater flying range since as each goose flaps its wings it creates an ‘uplift’ for the birds that follow.  By working together and sharing a common direction a community can function better.  When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position. In a community it pays to take turns doing the hard tasks.  Geese honk to keep each other encouraged.  In Champion a little honking goes a long way.   It turns out that a Canadian goose can live twenty-four years.

          “We’ll sing of the old, and we’ll sing of the new.  We’ll sing of the changes in years.  I can’t tell a lie, last night we had pie for the first time in twenty four years.  There’s a man over there without any hair, you can be sure he is fond of his beer.  He is called old-time rocks, and last night changed his socks for the first time in twenty four years.”  Well, there are lots of verses to that song, some having to do with banking, with politics, with the railroad and travel to the Indies.  It is just one of those conglomerated songs with no author to claim credit and a history too long to remember.  Esther Wrinkles said that she remembered it but that she has not heard it in a long time.  Music is a big part of Esther’s enjoyment of life.  When the fire department fund raisers first appear on the horizon, Esther is the one who registers the first and most enthusiasm about who will play.  She has a good ear and great appreciation for local artists.  A meeting of the Skyline Ladies’ Auxiliary will be coming up soon and the planning session will get going for the next community affair to benefit the best little fire department around.   The year seems to be going by pretty quickly.  Esther is doing well.  Louise is making steady progress on her recovery and the fun is starting all over again.  Champion!   

          That raft of tiger orange letters mailed from the Skyline R-2 School Foundation is producing some good results.  Thank you cards are being sent to early donors and more letters are going out to various philanthropic entities.  Anyone with a good idea can include a note with your check or cash donation to the Skyline R-2 School Foundation, Rt. 2, Box 486, Norwood, MO 65717.  A little country school is something worth supporting—a Champion something!

          A full lunar eclipse of December’s Cold Moon is going to occur, visible from Champion, about 8:30 next Saturday morning, December 10^th.  Starting about 7:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m., the moon will have the shadow of the Earth pass over it from east to west…Actually the moon is doing the moving, passing through Earth’s shadow.  A delicate layer of dusty air surrounding the planet reddens and redirects the light of the sun so that the moon seems to turn red when it enters the shadow of the Earth.  So not only will the Moon be beautifully red, it will also be inflated by the Moon Illusion.  For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging Moons look unnaturally large when they beam through the trees, buildings and other foreground objects.   In fact, a low Moon is no wider than any other Moon, but the human brain insists otherwise and so to observers in the western USA, and maybe Champion, the eclipse will appear super-sized.  It is very exciting.  This moon is kind of low in the western sky, so someone behind a hill may not see it.  They say that the darkest part of the eclipse will be about 8:30 a.m.  That is opening time at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square in Historic Downtown Champion.  Friends who missed the Thanksgiving Day parade are planning to show up early for coffee and to exchange their elliptical experiences from over the years. Saturdays at Champion are beginning to take on that old time quality when they gathered on the square for fellowship and to be in on all the latest happenings.  One Old Champion says, “There is something to be said for holding on to those old ties familial and friendly, particularly when those ties are with people you like.”  When the weather is consistently warm again, Champion City Mothers are going to break out the lucky horseshoe set and Champions will be extending challenges to each other and to any hapless visitor from Vanzant or Spotted Hog.  Some are practicing already.    Perhaps those ecliptically shadowed stories will shed light on some of the persistent Champion mysteries like the Champion Illusion when those phantom parades drift up the steep climbing western stretches of Lonnie L. Krider Memorial Drive toward the lofty summit of Mount Champion—how the bagpipes become faint in the mist and suddenly dissipate as if the procession had never occurred.  Anyone who attended (and everyone did) The Grand Champion Celebration of October 22^nd, knows for sure that grand and glorious things happen in Champion. (Verify this at www.championnews.us.)  Send reports of same to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or to Champion at getgoin.net.. 

          The weather is changing and real winter will be here in a few days.  Champions will be traveling and hosting guests and making all kinds of merry.  They are safe on the road, careful in their holiday spending while still most generous with all the things that count.  They are extending their Love and Gratitude to their Veterans and those serving at the behest of the Nation and they are thinking about dear family far away.  They are remembering that joyfulness is a year round Champion kind of thing.  Get a big heaping helping of it at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, December 10^th in Downtown Champion–Looking on the Bright Side.